Fingerprinting

Checking things off our to-do list. We just went in for what we hope to be our last USCIS (Homeland Security) fingerprinting (yes, this is our 4th time doing this - so unfortunately we're old pros at it!) which will then clear us and enable us to receive our lovely I-171H form saying we can be the parents of an adopted child(ren) from China. Yeah!

Now if only this next batch of referrals will come... I'm curious to see how far they're going to get. I'm hoping they will get through March 2006 and then can start on June next month. It's just little baby steps closer to our daughter!

Being Thankful

One day a year, we spend time with family and friends and have a turkey dinner and get to think about all of the things we are thankful for. For me, it's my wonderful husband, my family, his family and knowing that after 4.5 years of waiting - next year we will finally be a family. While I can't say when (hoping for some time in the summer - say lots of prayers!) it most certainly has to be some time in 2011. So, for us, we're hoping that this will be the last holiday season without our daughter. Now that is something to be thankful for!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

I also thought I'd share in a few funny Thanksgiving cartoons that made me laugh.

Flight to Janesville

It was a beautiful crisp sunny day here in Madison, so Robert and I decided to fly to Janesville for breakfast. It was just beautiful. Nothing beats quality time with your husband!

Here are a few of the photos from our trip.

Matches Arrived!

Matches arrived today and "the calls" are being made tomorrow! It seems like the cut-off will be May 23rd, but we won't know officially until tomorrow. Yeah to all the families receiving their calls!

UPDATE: It is official - May 23rd is the cut-off. Only 52 more Log-in dates to go...

The Winds

Well, over the past few days we've been having a wild ride with the weather. We've thankfully missed all of the tornadoes that have blown around, but we haven't missed any of the winds. Thankfully, we're not in the worst area - I think it's a lot worse north of here. We've "only" had around 50 mph wind gusts. It certainly sounds like it's spooky Halloween outside!

And with the wind, other changes are afoot... I can't write about it yet, but will when I am able to (unfortunately, it's NOT about a referral - although that will be here before we know it. I hope!)

Well, it should be a fun Halloween weekend ahead. One of Robert's best lifelong friends is coming to town with his wife and 2 kids and we have our annual Halloween Bash with our neighbors. Yeah!

I-600A Renewals out the door!

Well, today I mailed in my request to have our I-600A/I-171H form extended and to be re-fingerprinted for our 4th time. Oh, the joys! On the happy side, we're hopeful that this will be the last time that we're going to have to jump through these hoops. (please keep your fingers crossed on this point!) This process has been so stressful and anyone who's been waiting along with us can corroborate. With each update, they seemed to have changed the process so it was like starting from scratch each time we had to do it. But now it's done and we can sigh a huge relief.

Let's bring on those referrals!

Next up, update Robert's passport... gotta be ready!

September Referrals are Official!

Well, it took them almost two months to report it (partly due to the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival Holiday) but referrals are being made as we speak and families are getting to see their child's face for the very first time. It's an exciting time. I just wish it was our turn already!

This is a 3-day referral month and hopefully one of the last of the small referral batches – after this, we're hoping that attrition starts happening and the number of days being referred starts to increase. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. This has been over 4 years already and by the time we're done, it will be 5 years - which is far too long for anyone to wait for a child!

Only 57 more log-in dates to go until we're referred our daughter!

Here's the official notice:

9/29/2010
CCAA

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before May 18, 2006.

President Barack Obama in Madison today

Amazing experience today, I got to see President Barack Obama when he was in Madison speaking in the Library Mall near campus. My friend Judith got us VIP tickets and we were less than 50 feet away from the President and the other speakers. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I was in heaven. We had such an amazing time. I'm still wide awake from all of the excitement!

Mounted police - security was VERY TIGHT!

... going through the metal detectors...

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin

the mass of humanity (over 15,000 people) watching the speeches

Ben Harper played - amazing!!

Senator Russ Feingold

Milwaukee Mayor Barrett, running for Governor of Wisconsin

President Barack Obama takes the stage!

Don't forget to go vote in November!!

It's in the mail!

Referrals are in the mail! Yeah! Early rumors have the CCAA getting through May 18, 2006. We shall see in the next day or two if this is true or not. If it is, we're ahead of where we thought we'd be at this point.

Happy Sukkot and Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Today marks the beginning of two holidays - Sukkot and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Both are harvest festivals - one Jewish and the other Chinese.

Today we celebrated Sukkot at a friends house and had dinner in their Sukkah. It was a beautiful night and the rain held off. On Sunday, we have another party and will say the prayer over a lulav and etrog.


The Mid-Autumn Moon festival is a Chinese holiday celebrating the end of the summer harvest. Families traditionally eat moon cakes, light lanterns, and watch fire dragon dances.